Von Maur Department Store recently announced it has signed a contract to open its first Oklahoma City location at Quail Springs Mall. The 150,000-square-foot store in north Oklahoma City is scheduled to open in fall 2014.

In the latest indication of the Oklahoma City area’s retail revival, Von Maur Department Stores has picked the city as the site of its first location in the state. The upscale retail chain plans to open a 150,000-square-foot store at General Growth Properties Inc.’s Quail Springs Mall in the fall of 2014.

This summer Von Maur will begin renovating the store’s future site, a two-level building formerly occupied by Sears. Antiques, original artwork, piano music and the chain’s signature brick façade will characterize the new store. Elsewhere in the nation, Von Maur plans new stores in New York and Alabama.

Von Maur’s announcement follows numerous other signs of the metro region’s retail rebound. Last year Dick’s Sporting Goods opened four stores, two in Oklahoma City and one each in Moore and Midwest City, according to a report on the store opening from the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. In the past few years established and new-to-market restaurants and retailers have arrived, including Genghis Grill, Smashburger and GolfSmith.

Also in 2012, Horizon Group Properties completed a 27,800-square-foot addition to Outlet Shoppes at Oklahoma City only 15 months after opening the center’s first phase. A second expansion is on the way, according to the Chamber of Commerce.

Job growth and the increase in sales tax collections continue to boost the local economy. Collections in December increased 9.9 percent year over year. For 20 of the past 24 months, Oklahoma City’s unemployment rate has been the lowest in the country, the Chamber of Commerce reported.